Navi Mumbai: A 60 year old scrap dealer identified as Yakub Yunus Khan was found dead by Panvel Taluka police on November 2 following which the police have been looking for the suspect identified as Shrikant Ram Akbal Tiwari, a rickshaw driver. The crime came to light when Khan's body was discovered in a bush near Morbe village on Saturday.
Khan was a resident of Vavanje village in Panvel taluka and operated a scrap business while Tiwari, a resident of the same area, drove an auto rickshaw for living. On the afternoon of October 26, Khan left his house on his scooter around 4 p.m. However, Khan did not return home that evening. His son, Imran Yakub Khan, searched for him and filed a missing person report with Panvel taluka police on October 27. Subsequently, the police began scrutinising CCTV footage from the area on October 29 to locate missing Khan.
The CCTV footage showed Khan traveling with the suspect, Tiwari, from Vavanje village towards Morbe village on his scooter. About an hour later, Tiwari was seen returning alone on the same scooter. The police then discovered that Tiwari had discarded Khan's scooter in a pond near Mahoder village and fled the scene. After finding the scooter in the pond, the police started hunting for Tiwari and found that him missing from his home.
While searching for the absconding Tiwari, on November 2, the police found Khan’s decomposed body in a grassy area near Agrawal Farm in Kumbarkhoti, Morbe village. The body was taken into custody and sent for post-mortem at Panvel Sub-District Hospital. The post-mortem report indicated that Khan had been stabbed in the back with a sharp weapon and strangled to death.
“We have registered a case against Tiwari and are searching for him. Only after he is arrested, the motive behind the murder can be known,” a police officer said.
